CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Chattanooga Lady Mocs softball team (14-10) defeated Temple (5-9) in Clearwater, Fla. Sunday afternoon in a 9-3 offensive outburst. Chattanooga totaled 11 hits and eight RBI during the seven inning victory. Four Lady Mocs collected multiple hits and freshman Kaisey Carson (Indianapolis, Ind.) earned her second win of the season in a relief appearance against the Owls.

Chattanooga struck for two runs in the first inning, taking a 2-0 advantage early. Alyssa Taylor (Orange, Calif.) walked to begin scoring and freshman Anyssa Robles (Lawrenceville, Tenn.) doubled to put two on. Sarah Beth Roberts (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) singled in the next at-bat to clear both Robles and Taylor off the bases.

Leading 2-0, UTC tacked onto its lead with a run in the second inning as Stephanie Rieck (Chandler, Ariz.) and Kaiti Dutton (Tulsa, Okla.) laced back-to-back hits to board two runners. Junior Tyler Templet (Woodstock, Ga.) flied out to shallow right center to score Rieck from third base. The sacrifice fly extended Chattanooga lead to 3-0.

Temple fought back in the bottom of the third inning as the Owls cut the Lady Mocs lead to one run. After the leadoff batter was hit by a pitch and the ensuing at-bat resulted in a walk, an error loaded the bases for Temple. With the bases loaded, freshman Rachel Albritton (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) was unable to work out of the bases-loaded jam as second baseman Leah Lucas singled up the middle to drive in two, cutting the Chattanooga lead to 3-1. Carson was brought on in relief and was able to get an out to bring UTC out of the inning.

After two scoreless innings, the Lady Mocs tagged Temple for two more runs in the sixth inning with Roberts walking and senior Ninjja Suetsugu (Sao Paulo, Brazil) singling. Rieck was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Dutton was handed a four-pitch pass to walk in a runner. Templet grounded a ball to second base in the next at-bat, a fielder's choice that allowed Suetsugu to score from third.

Temple was held scoreless in the sixth inning and Chattanooga loaded on four insurance runs on four hits in the seventh to push the UTC lead to 9-2. Back-to-back singles from Taylor and Robles led off the frame and a Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) groundout to second allowed one run to score. After Rieck singled to load the bases for Chattanooga, Dutton reached on an error that allowed Taylor to score and keep the bases loaded. Redshirt freshman Jenny Garcia (Miami, Fla.) was brought on to pinch hit and delivered a two-run two-RBI single up the middle to round out the UTC scoring.

Temple plated one run in the bottom half of the last inning, but the last minute effort was not enough to overcome the UTC lead, falling 9-3.

Chattanooga takes on Boston University Tuesday at 11 a.m. and Quinnipiac on Wednesday at Noon. Both games will be played in Clearwater, Fla. before the team packs up and travels to Greenville, S.C. to open up Southern Conference play against Furman.

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